Helmet and head mounted displays (HMD), heads-up displays (HUD), head down displays (HDD), projection systems, illumination sources, sensors, objective lenses, camera lenses, and eyepieces can require complicated optics. These systems may require color correction, distortion correction and usually need to be minimal weight and low cost. Increasing the design options for the optics can result in a reduction in the number of lenses with the benefit of reducing weight and cost.
The display electronics and processors for complex optical systems may need to provide some corrections of images. The significant processing and memory resources required increases system latency, complicating the ability of, e.g., an HMD to display corrected images in real time. Corrections can be achieved by the use of doublets, triplets, or other complex lenses incorporating multiple indices of refraction. However, these complex lenses must be assembled from individual component lenses and bonded together, adding cost and complexity to the manufacturing process. Prototyping of complex optical systems can be costly and time consuming. A fast design approach that yields complex optics quickly with the quality that could be transitioned into production can reduce design time and cost.